8 August 2008
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) is helping authorities in Côte d'Ivoire vaccinate nearly 2 million people in the country's largest city against a yellow fever outbreak.
WHO is providing technical assistance to the Health Ministry campaign, which targets an estimated 1.94 million residents of Abidjan this month, according to a news update released today by the agency. It is the first mass immunization scheme in the city against yellow fever since 2001.
The campaign is also being supported by the public-private Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), WHO reported.
The agency sent two experts to Cote d'Ivoire in June to assess the public health situation after the outbreak was confirmed by laboratory testing in May.
Yellow fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, derives its name from the jaundice that affects some sufferers, who tend to experience fever, muscle pain, headaches, loss of appetite, vomiting and/or nausea. While most patients recover, the disease can be deadly and the number of infected people has risen in recent years, despite the availability of an effective vaccine.
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